A Band Of Eds
by AngusTheFish
Summary: The Eds are plunged into what is being called World War III. How will this affect the Eds, and more importantly, will they make it out alive?


**Well, this is the second fanfiction I've written, hopefully this one will actually finish. I plan on finishing it, as I am more prepared for this one than my last failed attempt. This story includes the OC from my last fic, in a less direct role, as the story is mainly seen out of the eyes of Double D, but will frequently rotate to my OCs point of view and other minor characters throughout the story. Coarse language and violence, it's about war.**

"_**Band of Eds"**_

_Chapter 1: Shortest Straw_

Double D looked outside the window of the helicopter and looked down at the scenery below him. The fields of green and hills below him rolled by as a behemoth of a helicopter called the Chinook thundered through the cold morning air as two or three more of its brethren followed close next to it. He turned and lifted his head toward the rest of Echo Squad, who were talking amongst each other, though it looked to him more like yelling over the roar of the powerful engines above them. Turning to look at his closest comrade that he had through this time, he asked a question he was sure his friend would know.

"Where are we headed to, again?" Double D tried to yell over the engines of the helicopter.

His friend turned toward him after finishing up a conversation with another squad mate.

"Kashmir Valley. We're being relocated to Forward Operating Base Faryar to help'em out with the Pakistani offensive. Us and a couple other specialist teams and artillery batteries."

His squad mate pointed to the helicopter sailing through the air next to theirs, which carried a large howitzer-esque gun that looked big enough to fire off a man one-hundred miles into the distance.

"Ah." He yelled and turned back to the window and resumed his blank expression.

"Hey," his friend grabbed his shoulder as Double D tried to turn back, "sorry about Miller, there was nothing we could do to help him. He did all he could for us." His friend held an expression of sorrow and memoriam for their now-gone friend.

"I know." Double D turned back to the window and looked down once again at the scenery of northern India roll by as they neared their destination.

Double D reached into his vest and retrieved a folded piece of paper. Small droplets of dried blood caked it in certain areas. Opening it, he tried not to aggravate the blood and tear the letter. It meant a lot to him, as he was sure it would mean a lot to the Miller family when it was delivered. Double D remembered when it was given to him:

_Double D pulled the pin out of a hand grenade at counted to three. Tossing it out of the small enclave in the wall he took cover in, he pulled his rifle back up to his shoulder and pulled the trigger twice in quick succession. Hearing an explosion slightly muffled by the wall followed by several quick screams of pain, he thought he accomplished what he meant to. _

"_Everyone stay in cover, don't fucking move," Double D's squad leader yelled. "I only heard two go down!" _

_Silence followed for a few brief moments._

"_What the fuck do we do then, Sarge?" A young Private Kassab asked him._

"_Yeah man, we're gonna get screwed over sittin' here, this alleyway might as well be a fuckin' rat-trap." Corporal Guiterrez responded to the private._

"_Tom," Double D yelled from his spot across the alley from everyone else, "we should wait for the Bradley!"_

"_That's what were gonna do." Squad leader yelled back._

"_Everyone," their team leader ardently yelled from his spot behind an overturned dumpster, "get to that car port, we're regrouping and I'm calling in the Bradley." He pointed to a small double car port behind them further down the alley, one of the doors was open. _

"_Roger." Five responses came in an ensemble of tired voices._

_Eddward reloaded his rifle and took a deep, but rather innocuous, breath in an attempt to calm his frayed nerves. Always circumspect, he, as fast as his head could move, peeked around the corner of the bullet ridden wall he hid behind. Nothing moved. Relegating any thought or doubt, he threw his body across the small alley toward his team with as much force as his trembling body could muster. As he took his spot next to his friends, he suddenly realized that no one had shot at him. The alley was only about ten feet wide, and various forms cover strewn throughout provided many forms of hiding for anyone who wanted him dead. _

_Next was Corporal Miller's turn. _

"_Miller," Double D said, "get over here, quick; before they realize we're moving and try to move up themselves." _

"_Yeah, hold on man," he said back, "gotta check my gun."_

_Miller emptied the spent magazine out of his rifle; and Double D shuddered as it clattered to the floor. He knew the enemy knew that his squad was there, but to Double D the sound of the metal box hitting the floor just alerted every enemy soldier in a ten block radius._

"_Miller," squad leader yelled, "get your ass over here!" _

"_Roger sarge." _

_Miller looked out of the wall he stood behind, the same one that Double D was behind moments ago. Without double taking, he jogged across the alley. Taking his spot at the rear, he followed the squad as they made their way further behind them in the alley. Once all five soldiers were securely in the car port, the squad leader started into directions._

"_Alright, did anyone here see how many there were out there?" He asked his team._

"_More than two, that's for sure." Kassab responded._

"_Ok well the rest of them are gonna get a big fuckin' surprise in a minute here." He pushed a button on the device in his helmet, which opened the communication to other units in the area._

"_Bulldog-One this is Sergeant Thompson; B company, 3__rd__ platoon, Echo squad. Do you copy?" He asked into his mouthpiece._

"_This is Bulldog-One, go ahead." Static followed._

"_Requesting support and evac on our position, we have multiple infantry units nearby and we're stuck in an alley. How copy? Over." Static followed once again._

"_Roger, wilco. Send us your coordinates."_

_Squad leader Thompson registered his coordinates with the armored squad, and waited for his response._

"_Ok, Echo, we are inbound. ETA five minutes. Repeat, five minutes. Break." Bulldog-One responded._

"_Alright you heard him. Post up here. Reload, get your shit ready to go, 'cuz when that Bradley gets here we're hauling ass." _

_Double D sat against a wall opposite the entrance to the car port, his gun loaded in case any unlucky men tried to step into their hideout. For five minutes he pondered possible escape routes should the former happen. There was a door to his right which led to the apartments which the car port was attached to, but if he escaped there, he would have nowhere to go should his enemies follow them. _

_Then a blast deafened him from seemingly nowhere. Across the room, the enemy had rolled a grenade to the doorstep and blew the door into a million shattered remains of rotted wood and metal._

_Double D jumped to his feet and trained hi sights on the incoming men. Two men yelling in a different language entered the room and dropped to the floor shortly afterwards thanks to the rest of his squad. Three men replaced them and ran into the room firing at odd angles, only to receive bullets through their bodies as Echo squad killed them all._

"_Everyone good!" Thompson yelled._

"_I'm good, sarge."_

"_Good."_

"_I'm fine." Double D added in._

"_Aww man… this ain't good man… shit!" A weak toned voice from where Miller was emanated followed by short high pitched breathing._

_Double D ran over to Miller and looked him over. Once he reached his neck he flinched as he caught sight of blood running down his chest. Miller scrambled at the straps of his vest as he tried to pry it off. Coughing up blood and cursing repeatedly, his face was turning a pale shade fast._

_A large, deep rumbling came from the alley, indicating to him that the help they no longer needed had arrived. Double D pulled off the vest from Miller and hoisted him onto his shoulders. He carried him into the back of the Bradley and set him down on one of the seats. Miller was coughing up blood and breathing in short breaths, blood pouring from a wound just under his collarbone. Double D injected him with morphine and pushed on the wound. The Bradley closed its hatch and thundered forward toward a rallypoint somewhere._

"_I got'cha buddy. We're gonna get you out of here." Double D tried to calm him down, to lower the chance of shock onset._

"_Aww man, aww man…" he trailed off as blood poured over his lips onto him._

"_Here, man… take this," he handed Double D a folded piece of paper, "its… it's for my p-parents, man." He coughed up more blood as his body trembled with shock._

_Double D took the letter and injected him with more morphine._

"_If I d-don't make it, man… tell my parents I-I love'em and-and stuff…" His words sounded like the interrupted words of a sobbing child._

"_You're going to make it, Miller. Just stay calm and relax." Double D tried again to calm him, though in the back of his mind it was futile._

"_No man, I'm not. I ain't gonna make it." He told him back._

"_Well is there anything we can get you now?" Double D asked._

"_Reach in my vest… pull out the p-picture. And some more morphine would b-be nice."_

_Double D pulled out a picture of Miller with what he thought was his parents, in addition to another syringe of morphine. He stuck the needle into Miller's chest as he handed him the picture. Miller held up the picture as far as his arm could, and then rested it down. He looked at the ceiling of the inside of the Bradley for a moment, and stopped shaking. His eyes froze and his jaw made small movements before stopping. His body leaned back in his seat and stopped moving._

_Double D looked at him for several seconds while his head ached from emotional pain. Reaching over to his body, he took one of the two dog tags off Miller's chain, as well as the picture, and put them both into a pocket in his vest. He proceeded to reach over and close Miller's eyes._

_The whole Bradley rumbled along silently as everyone bowed their heads._

Double D was faintly aware of his friend calling his name. It was hard to hear above the roaring of the helicopter engines. Turning to look at his friend, he heard him say something:

"We're here."

End Chapter 1

**Well there's the first chapter, I have more planned. Hope you liked it, if you did, review and feel free to add suggestions. I may just use them.**


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